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Man pleads guilty to sending ‘online threat’ to ex-Rochdale MP

Friday, 19 December 2025 16:43

By George Lythgoe

Simon Danczuk, the former MP for Rochdale

A man has pleaded guilty to sending an ‘online threat’ to Simon Danczuk a former MP for Rochdale.

Zaffar Hussain, of Kellett Street in Rochdale, pleaded guilty to sending the ‘threat’ to Simon Danczuk, the former MP for Rochdale, at Wigan Magistrates’ Court on December 17. Hussain, 25, admitted one count of ‘sending by electronic communication on a network grossly offensive or indecent or obscene or menacing messages on February 26, 2024’.

Hussain was arrested a day later by Greater Manchester Police. At the time, Mr Danczuk was standing for Reform UK in the Rochdale by-election, which was held on February 29, 2024 following the death of Labour MP Tony Lloyd. 

After Hussain pleaded guilty, Mr Danczuk said: “[The threat] caused me and my family a lot of distress and significantly disrupted our election campaign. My wife, Coco, had to move back to London for her safety, Reform UK allocated two full-time security personnel to our campaign, the campaign team had to move from their accommodation, and we had to restrict where we went and who we met.

“I’d like to thank Greater Manchester Police for helping to bring this successful prosecution and Richard Tice MP, who as Reform UK leader at the time did an excellent job in ensuring mine and our team’s safety was the priority.”

The election was won by George Galloway, standing for the Workers Party, but he only represented the Greater Manchester town for several months, when Paul Waugh re-captured the seat for Labour at the general election on July 4 that year.

Hussain is next due to appear in court at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on February 25, 2026. 

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